


Survivalist's Hope

by Jinxeshisu



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-17
Updated: 2015-11-17
Packaged: 2018-05-02 04:29:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5234123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jinxeshisu/pseuds/Jinxeshisu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daryl invites the reader to go on a supply run with him. Cuteness ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Just a Kiss

How long had it been now? A few weeks? A month? The time had been lost to you, letting you adjust to your surroundings and the people you had managed to find in the comfort of this never ending horror story. 'Just one more day.' That's what you would tell yourself, trying to gain some form of comfort. 'Just live on for one more day'. If there was any reassurance, this would be it. You needed to remind yourself just how important it was to live on.

"Oi, [Y/N]! Are you comin' on this run tomorrow?"

Your [E/C] eyes twitched at the interruption, head jerking in the direction of the sound that had invaded your thoughts. "Uh, sure thing! Count me in, I guess.." Your voice trailed off as you turned back to ripping up pieces of grass, tossing the blades towards the ground before a sigh escaped your lips.

"Is everythin' alright?" The sound of footsteps against the grass echoed to your right, a pair of boots now visible along with a pair of jeaned legs. "What're ya just sittin' over here for? Plenty of excitement back at the cell block."

You pursed your lips together for a moment before sucking in a breath, pushing yourself up off the ground and looking down at your clothes. "I don't exactly feel like sitting around in a cell block, Dixon. Thanks for the concern, though." You muttered, brushing off the back of your [F/C] jeans before turning tail and walking off in the other direction. 

Truth be told, you didn't like the idea of conversing with this group much. In your mind, you believed that the closer you got to people, the worse that it would be. If you cared about someone, it made the process of losing them that much harder. "Ragtag group, that's all they are." You muttered to yourself, the large [F/C] sweater you wore hanging off your petite figure comfortably as you walked across the field of the prison yard.

"[Y/N], do you really think we'll make it out of this alive?"

You tensed up at the voice and stopped dead in your tracks, jerking your head in every direction as you tried to place where it was coming from. It didn't take long to realize that it was just a figment of your imagination, earning an annoyed sigh from your lips. "Goddamn it." You breathed as you kicked a large rock across the field and into the chain link fence. 

Before the outbreak, things had been easy. You had a normal job, a decent apartment to yourself, and the simple worries of making ends meet with rent and bills. You had car payments, a small family on a farm outside of town and a boyfriend that you would see at least twice a week, maybe more if work didn't need you to work overtime. Simple; it was so simple.

When the outbreak hit, you'd fled town with your boyfriend. He was nothing more than a simple mechanic who would hit up the firing range with his friends on the weekends you were working. With his below-average gun skills, you figured there was nothing to worry about and getting to your parents would be even easier. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case at all. Little did you know, no one you loved would come out of this alive.

Your parents were the first. Shortly afterwards, it was your younger brothers who they'd turned on. Despite your boyfriend's protests to leave and get somewhere safe, your state of denial had cost him his life as well. Nothing could have prepared you for this moment and out of fear, you ran. God knows that you ran as far as you could before you couldn't run anymore. Time just seemed to stand still after that and before you knew it, you had found your way to this group.

"[Y/N]!"

Another voice pulled you from your thoughts as you turned your head to see the small figure of the petite blonde waving her arm at you. "Beth." You sighed and turned your whole body towards her, making your way across the field. From what you'd gathered, Carol had finished making dinner for everyone and it was now time to eat while it was still hot. "Yippee." You muttered to yourself as you walked alongside the younger woman.

\------------------

The next morning you had woken up earlier than usual, making your way towards the showers to clean up before Daryl and the others decided to drag you off on that 'supply run' they were doing today. Even after your shower, you didn't feel at ease. Of all the people they could have asked, you questioned why it was you.

"Mornin'." His voice was gruff, not that it was out of the norm for him. He shuffled along, bowl in his hand as he munched on whatever had been cooked up.

"Mm." You made a small sound to acknowledge him though you had no interest in holding up any conversation. [E/C] orbs watched the older male before you took a seat, poking at your food with your [S/C] fingers.

"Head's up, [Y/N]. You and I are goin' on the run so make sure you're ready to go. I ain't waitin' for ya." He warned her before he made his way back to Carol, dropping off the white bowl he'd been using. "Thanks."

You had watched him walk off, eyes trailing his movements before you picked at the food in front of you. You never had much of an appetite when it came to doing the supply runs. You knew the one way or another, you'd have to kill a walker or two. That never sat well with you, probably because you'd rarely had to do it before you got here.

"Bottoms up." You grumbled, shoveling the food into your mouth and forcing yourself to swallow. It was probably the better option rather than going at it with an empty stomach. Then again, losing the contents of your stomach wouldn't do much good either. It's like there was no winning option for you today as you pushed yourself up from your seat, leaving the bowl with Carol and giving her a faint smile.

"Good luck with today's run. Stay safe, okay?" She gave you a small smile, taking the bowl before serving yet another hungry survivor.

You made sure to get out of the area quick, arming yourself with a small hand gun and a machete that you'd come to love. It made killing walkers easier and you knew that the hand gun would only be in case things got too dangerous. As you paced yourself, you could see the archer just up ahead. He was packing some stuff for the run onto his bike.

"Y'know, I don't see the point of trying to be stealthy if you're gonna ride around on that thing." You pointed out, arms folded over your chest as you stared at him. "Before you say it, I already know it was your brother's."

His eyes were on you for a moment before he scowled and went back to his previous tasks. He didn't care much for you at first but, you'd proven yourself useful time and time again. Now, for the first time, he'd get to see what you were actually made of. "Ya ready to go?"

"Obviously. That's why I'm here, ain't I?" You muttered, rolling your eyes at his question. "Never pictured you for asking the obvious."

"Don't get smart, sunshine." He warned, obviously not in the best of moods. "Get on the bike, [Y/N]."

With a sigh escaping your lips, you climbed onto the back of the bike and steadied yourself so you wouldn't fall off. "Whenever you're ready."

He glanced back at you before scoffing and revving the bike. "Hold on tight. Don't need ya fallin' off along the way." When he felt you hesitantly snake your arms around him, he watched as the prison gates opened and headed through them with ease.

Your eyes watched your surroundings, noting the roads that you took just in case anything should happen to either of you on this run. The sound of the wind through your ears was annoying but, the breeze itself was nice against your [S/C] skin. As the wind ripped through your [H/L] [H/C] hair, you felt a bit of relief. Or rather, you did until the bike stopped. "The hell!"

Daryl was quick to shove your arms off of his body as he stepped off the bike, crossbow in hand and moved towards the abandoned department store. "Shut up and get movin'. We ain't got all day." He grumbled, pushing carefully through the front doors.

"Such an asshole." You muttered low enough for him to miss as you grabbed your machete, pacing yourself behind him. Your irritation with the redneck was enough to get your adrenaline to start pumping as you stepped away from him to cover the other side of the store. It didn't take long for you to stuff your bag full of supplies, figuring it would be better to stock up rather than let these go to waste on someone else.

A shelf crashing just ahead of you made you jump and you were instantly crouched on the ground, making sure to keep yourself quiet and hidden as you moved along the back wall. A growling moved through the back end of the store, feet shuffling along the tiles. You glanced around for any sign of the redneck but found none. 'Asshole must've left' was all you could manage to think as you stepped around one of the shelves and watched the walker pass you by.

"What are ya doin'?" A voice came from across the room, pointing to the walker. "Kill the sum'bitch!" He hissed at you, his eyes lowered into a glare.

You glared back at him, flipping him off and stood up straight. "Psst!" You called out to it, watching as it turned around before you buried the machete deep into its head. When it dropped, you pulled the weapon free and stared at it. 'Disgusting as always' you told yourself, letting the blood run down the blade onto the floor.

When a hand gripped your shoulder, you spun around with a clenched fist and made sure to hit the source hard enough to make it stumble back. "The hell are you doing!?" You snapped, looking at the redneck. "What if I had swung with this goddamn thing!?"

Daryl held the side of his mouth, wiping the blood onto his hand and glared daggers at you. "Ya dumb bitch! What the hell were ya thinkin'!?" He snapped at you, taking a step forward and grabbing you by the front of your [F/C] shirt.

"Get your damn hands off me!" You demanded, grabbing onto his wrist and digging your nails into the skin. "Before I decide to take it off for you!" It wasn't like Daryl to get rough with anyone, not that you'd ever seen him act like this before. "The hell's wrong with you!?"

Before you could truly say anything else, he shoved you back against the wall and held you there for a moment. His eyes moved from your eyes to your lips and back up before he stepped even closer. "Shut up, [F/N]." He demanded before his lips crashed onto yours, applying enough pressure to get a sound out of you. A smirk crossed his lips through the kiss before he pulled back to stare at your shocked expression.

"...why..." You breathed, staring at the man in front of you. He'd never made any effort to associate with you before, let alone look your way or even acknowledge you. "...you clearly hate me, so why..?"

A simple shrug of his shoulders, he leaned back towards you again and pressed his lips to yours once more. Hell, he didn't even know why he'd done it himself but as long as the two of you could share a moment, why not? After all, it was just a kiss.


	2. Saviour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sequel to 'Just a Kiss'.

It had been precisely a month since the little saliva exchange between the crossbow wielder and yourself, not that you were honestly complaining.. out loud, anyways. 'It's just a kiss, [Y/N]. Ain't nothin' special about it.' was all that he had said afterwards, dragging your ass back with him to the prison. You'd barely held onto him, glaring deep holes into the back of his head the entire trip and once you'd returned to the prison, you hopped off and didn't say another word. You'd actually completely ignored him for the entire month.

"Hey, [Y/N], think you're up for a run?" It was Maggie who approached you this time around.

Your [E/C] eyes held the same expression as your face; disinterest. "What am I goin' out for?" It was the first question usually out of three that you would ask.

"Got the list right here." She waved the paper a bit, looking at you with almost a smile. "You think you're up for it?"

As your eyebrow raised, you snatched the paper from her hand and glanced it over. "Simple enough. Lemme grab the usual and I'll be on my way."

"Why don't you take someone with you? It'll be quicker if you don't do it alone." She motioned to Michonne who had just returned herself from a run on horseback. "Example number one, y'know."

"Heh, you gonna tag along, farm girl?" You placed a hand on your hip after shoving the list into the tight pocket of your almost black jeans. "How about your boyfriend, he up for it?"

She shook her head and motioned to the tower. "He's up there on watch. I doubt he'll be comin' down until Rick relieves him." She looked back at the people in the yard. "I'm taking over for Beth with Judith. Why don't you take Daryl?"

"No thanks." Your response was immediate as you let your arm drop to your side, making your way over to one of the vehicles to snatch the keys. Of course, Maggie didn't let up there.

"Why not? He's the best for doing runs, [Y/N]. You know this yourself, considering you've been with him before."

"I went with him once, Maggie. Once." You walked back towards the prison, heading straight for the cell you'd turned into your own private getaway. Your temporary home until things went south, which they always did. As you stuffed your bag, you heard the sigh come from behind you.

"Alright, take it from someone who knows just how useful he is." She had her arms folded over her chest, leaning against the door frame. "Take him with you."

You stood up, slinging the bag over your shoulder as you strapped your machete around your waist, letting it rest in a sheath against your right leg. "I never said I doubted that he was useful for runs, Maggie." You leaned over some stuff to grab a black katana that you'd found during one of your solo runs, slinging it over your shoulder as well. Lightly pushing her out of the way, you made your way back outside.

"Then take him with you."

An irritated sigh escaped you as you tossed everything into the passenger seat and shut the door, turning around to face her. "What is it with all of you lately? For the past month, all of you seem eager as hell to get that damn guy to do a run with me."

"It might be the fact that you're always going alone." She placed a hand on her hip, staring at you with a concerned expression. "You think we don't care that you're going solo now?"

"It's fairly obvious that you all seem to care but, none of you seem to think of talking to me before assuming that you're just going to shove someone into the passenger seat." You pointed out. "Some people just don't come back from runs. Carol is a damn good example, y'know."

Maggie sighed as she heard footsteps approaching. "You know why she didn't come back. Rick did what he had to do." She glanced back to see Daryl and Rick approaching. "Why can't you just take someone with you? We all know how reckless you are now, especially since my dad mentioned he had to stitch up your arm last week."

You scoffed at her, walking around to the driver's side and pulled open the door. "I'd love to stay and chat but," Your eyes moved to Daryl as you felt your irritation rising. "Those supplies aren't gonna get here themselves." With that, you slammed the door shut and drove off out the gates.

"She goin' solo again?" Daryl called out to Maggie, watching the vehicle drive off.

"Seems that way, doesn't it? I told her to take you along with her but she wouldn't have it." Maggie let out another sigh as she looked at them. "Donno what you did but the mention of you turns any conversation with her into quite the event." She muttered, heading off towards the tower.

\-------

The drive was silent, aside from your breathing and the wind against the car as you turned onto the main road. The nearest locations had all been raided so you'd made sure to keep all the maps at the prison updated. A glance at the map you had in your possession would lead you to a place about fifteen minutes from where you'd last raided.

'Should be a quick in and out by the looks of it. At this rate, we're running outta places.' Your eyes moved back to the road as you noticed a couple walkers roaming through one of the empty fields. A slight chuckle at the sight, you shook your head. "Sucks, huh? You're prolly starving like the rest of 'em."

As the road continued, you made sure to take the proper turn and headed up another barren road towards the location on your map. "Would a change of scenery hurt?" You muttered, pulling over when you noticed a large store. You were careful in making sure no walkers were about to swarm your vehicle as you grabbed your supplies and slipped the katana onto your back.

"Hello store. Be kind to me, please." You whispered as you approached the building, pushing open the glass door and poking your head in. The katana held in your hand now, you walked further into the building and pulled out your flashlight. The light shone down the isles well enough as you started to stuff some things into one of the three bags you'd grabbed earlier.

"Nnngggghhhh." 

Freezing instantly, you listened carefully to the sound of groaning and shuffling feet. A sigh threatened to escape your lips as you set down the bag, walking towards the sound and swung your sword when the monstrosity walked around the corner. With the sound of metal through the air, the head dropped to the floor and the body followed suit. "Fuckin' walker." You growled, returning to your previous tasks.

\----------

It didn't take you long to fill two of the bags, stuffing them in the backseat before retreating inside. You wanted to grab your own personal supplies now, much like you always did. Sometimes it was the small things that mattered to you like cheap novels, audio books and CDs, and even the occasional little phone charm you'd seen teenagers with. Hell, you still had yours back at the prison; a little pink and white metal lollipop that had a little clasp on it. You'd actually attached it to this little pink-haired anime girl charm you'd come across in a chinese shop once. Here, you didn't know what you'd find.

Some books were still on the shelves, but you knew these titles already because they were the same shitty novels you had back at the prison. Actually, you'd just recently burned them if memory served you right. 'Well, that's depressing.' happened to cross your mind as you stuffed a few CDs into the bag, along with some sour candies still sealed in a large white bag. When something crashed at the front of the store, you spun around and held both your bag and sword in hand. Several footsteps had your attention instantly as you slipped into the back of the store, placing yourself in an office with access to the roof.

Groans, growling and shuffling steps echoed clear as day through the store as shelves toppled, things scattered across the already messy floor. You breathed slowly, pressing the door to the office shut and fiddling with the lock. Of course, it just had to be busted. 'What the fuck is this!?' you cursed mentally. You'd no idea how many of those damn things were currently outside of the room and the only exit was the front door. 'Guess it's to the roof then. There better be a way down or else I'm fucked.'

Moving quickly to the ladder that lead to the roof, you climbed it with ease and pulled yourself up onto the top of the building. A few bodies lay scattered over the roof, clearly survivors who didn't do so well on the surviving front. "Damn." You breathed, walking carefully and cautiously across the roof. And hey, look at that! The only exit just happened to be the front doors. "AGH! This is bullshit!" You snapped, kicking a rock across the roof and looking up at the sky.

"I'll never hear the end of this one." You grumbled, taking a seat amongst the rubble on the roof. A small shelter had been made and luckily it was empty so you had some shelter from the sun. You decided to give it a few hours, see if the walkers cleared out and then you'd make a break for it. Laying back on the small blanket, you let your eyes slide shut and faded into sleep.

\----------------

The sound of something moving across the roof jerked you awake, your eyes focusing on the darkness that now surrounded you. 'Fuck, I totally crashed.' You cursed yourself as you held the katana tightly, pushing yourself to your feet in a crouching position. As your eyes adjusted, you focused on the sound of whatever it was moving about outside the mini shelter.

"[Y/N]!" Someone whispered, the footsteps ceasing as whoever it was stopped moving. "Ya up here?"

When the voice became obvious, you stood up and walked out, shining your flashlight onto them. "The hell are you doin' here?" You growled, instantly on the defensive. "I'm pretty sure I made it clear that all my runs are solo now. Didn't the farm girl pass the memo along to you, Dixon?"

Daryl stood there, crossbow over his shoulder as his eyes remained on you. "Y'know, it doesn't hurt to stop actin' like you've got some kind of stick up your ass all the time." He stepped forward, looking over the edge of the roof. "Ya didn't think to attempt climbin' down from here?"

"Did you expect me to scale the walls like some eight legged freak? I wasn't takin' any chances, redneck." You felt your anger rising as you stood there, shutting the flashlight off. "I'd like to see your bitch ass get the hell down from here."

He raised an eyebrow when he glanced at you, making his way back to the exit. "Ya could've jumped, y'know. There's stuff there to break the fall." He stopped to look at you. "Would ya hurry your ass up? I ain't gonna wait around forever."

That's when you'd finally had it as you closed the distance between the two of you, grabbing his shirt and letting your fist connect with the side of his face. "Who the hell do you think you are!?" You snapped at him. "You've got a lot of goddamn nerve even showin' up here!"

Daryl glared at you as the blood trickled from the side of his mouth. "Ya got some kind of thing for hittin' people? This is the second time you've swung at me." He wiped the blood and got to his feet, grabbing his crossbow.

"Be thankful I didn't kick your redneck ass down the fucking hole!" You warned him, stepping forward to hit him again. "I've been more than tempted to kick your ass!"

"So now ya got it out for me?" He was immediately on the defensive as he watched you, grabbing your wrist and pushing you back to put space between the two of you. "Y'know [Y/N], I came here to save your ass but clearly, all ya want is a fight!"

"Oh, so now you notice what I want!? That's REALLY funny comin' from you, asshole!" You threw at him, sheathing the katana that you'd dropped after hitting him. "You just couldn't stay the fuck away, huh? As soon as you think I'm in need of some kind of rescue, you jump at it before anyone else and speed over here to play the role of the knight in shining armor, is that it?!"

"The hell is your problem!?"

"YOU ARE!" You shouted at him, your hands balled into fists. "You're my fucking problem, and have been for the last month, you stupid fucking redneck asshole!" You continued throwing insults at him, all the while you took a step back to keep the distance in case he tried to close it himself.

"Whoa, hold up! I ain't done a damn thing to ya in the last month!" He watched her step back, moving foward to grab her from slipping off the edge. "So whatever goddamn grudge ya got all worked up in the damn head of yours, it ain't worth shit."

"Ain't worth shit!? I'm not the fucking guy who decided to literally make out with me during a goddamn run!" And there it was, the start of the problems. "I'm not the one who said 'oh, it's just a kiss' when for your goddamn information, you happened to be the last person I thought would pull that fucking stunt!"

"The hell are ya talkin' about!? Are ya tellin' me that you've been avoiding me 'cause of that goddamn kiss?" He stared at her before shaking his head. "Goddamn women get so worked up over somethin' so small."

"Oh sure, call it whatever you want but, hell. This whole world's gone to shit and I think for one second that maybe, just maybe, there's a chance that this really good lookin' hunter might think of me as something more than a survival tool in this shit hole and then he tells me 'oh, it's just a kiss'. What in the flying blue fuck was I supposed to think, Dixon?" You felt your voice cracking, wavering just a bit as you struggled with yourself. "Christ almighty, that kiss was the first GOOD thing that's actually happened to me since before the outbreak even took place and I ain't gonna lie when I say that I enjoyed it."

"Ya really wanna know why I came all the way out here, [Y/N]?" Daryl stepped forward, pulling you even further away from the edge and sighed. "Out of all the people at the prison, I was the first to jump at the idea of goin' lookin' for ya. The others were worried but, I know that ya ain't comin' back if ya don't got a way to do so."

"I don't need a fucking knight in shining armor, Dixon." You didn't look at him as you pulled yourself from his grasp. "As far as I'm concerned, you're just here 'cause you don't want people to think anythin' less of you."

"Let 'em think that then. I couldn't care less what they think of me, let alone what they think of ya. I'm here 'cause it's you and there ain't no way in hell that I'd let some walkers get ya before I could." He shouldered his crossbow again, watching your face before he stepped back to pop open the door to the office. "I'll go first, you follow after."

You stared at him, surprised by his words. Was that some sort of confession or.. were you just imagining it? Taking a small step forward, you pressed the door shut with your foot and leaned forward to pull him to his feet by the front of his shirt. "Dixon, the fuck are you doing?"

"Gettin' ya outta here would be my guess."

You shook your head. "Try that again."

"My answer ain't gonna change."

You let out a small chuckle, leaning forward to press your lips to his. Breaking only for a moment to look at his face before kissing him again, you didn't move until you felt his arm snake around your waist. "I'll ask one more time; the fuck are you doing?"

"Not a goddamn thing." He smirked against your lips, his forehead pressed against yours.

"Mm," You grabbed his wrist, pulling him along the roof to where the small shelter was. "I'm glad I'm not some 'thing' then." You smirked as you crouched down, pulling him into the shelter with you. It was definitely going to be a long night coming for your precious savior.


End file.
